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This weekend, the new Tom Clancy thriller The Sum of All Fears will open nationwide. Fears portrays the early CIA adventures of young Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck), a hero portrayed in his later years by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. In this episode, Ryan faces his toughest challenge—a terrorist threat to detonate a nuclear bomb at the Super Bowl.

When stories about this film reached the entertainment press last fall, many voiced doubts regarding Affleck's ability to meet the standard set by Baldwin and Ford in the earlier episodes. But there were more urgent and troubling questions. Many were dismayed that a studio would go forward with a film about such large-scale terrorist violence while audiences are still tending the wounds of September 11. Some critics declared that the days of glorified big-screen terrorism were over—a fact quickly discredited as films like Big Trouble arrived with bombs intact. Now that the World Trade Center disaster has made terrorism a daily possibility in American life, isn't it inappropriate for this type of story to be packaged as entertainment?

Let me know what you think. Is this a subject that can be meaningfully addressed by a major motion picture? What will distinguish a good film about nuclear holocaust from a bad one? And if you see the movie, I would welcome your thoughts on it. Is it capitalizing on recent waves of patriotism, or exploiting the headlines? Or is it leading us to a deeper understanding of the world we live in?

In last week's Film Forum, I offered my own thoughts on Insomnia, the new thriller from director Christopher Nolan (my complete review is at Looking Closer). Over the weekend, reviewers everywhere turned in more praise for the film, making it the year's first title likely to be remembered at Oscar time. (Perhaps The Rookie will make the grade, but I fear it was not audacious enough to leave a lasting impression on the forgetful Academy members.) Insomnia's top notch cast is winning raves: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank are indeed very impressive. But it is even more interesting to see how this film, like last month's surprise hit Changing Lanes, is leading critics and audiences alike to chew over its unsettling moral questions. The film opened in third place this week, behind Attack of the Clones and Spider-Man, an impressive debut for a late-spring release light on the visual effects.

A critic for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says, "Insomnia is a dramatic character study unlikely to have anyone dozing off." It introduces us to Will Dormer (Pacino), a tough L.A. cop who is sent to Alaska to help investigate the death of a young woman. Dormer is trying to keep his reputation clean during a period when his department is under intense scrutiny, but his fear of becoming tainted leads to mistrust and anxiety that mar his ability to solve the case. When another corpse is discovered, Dormer struggles with whether he bears the responsibility for it. Plagued by guilt and fear, he tampers with evidence to cover his tracks, while continuing to set traps for the killer that he came to catch. All this time, the sun never sets, keeping him awake at night, burning him like his own conscience.

Several questions take their toll on Dormer's heart, and they challenge us as well. Should he commit a crime to achieve a greater good? What makes him different from the villain he is chasing? Who should we be rooting for? Do the ends justify the means?

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May (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46